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15 Giant Origami Installations That Will Amaze You

If you think origami is just for making swans from napkins, well, it’s actually a little more than that. Origami is the art of creating a masterpiece with a simple piece of paper. While the usual origami can be made at home with paper the size of your palm, the 15 giant origami sculptures in this post is going to blow your mind.

Days and weeks have been put into creating these gigantic and ridiculously oversized origami projects. From fantastic giant swans, to bulls, dragons and even a paper boat (you just have to have one of those), these giant installations were inspired by classiÃÂÃÂ origami designs and blown up to humongous proportions for your viewing pleasure.

White Elephant by Sipho Mabona. Swiss origami artist Sipho Mabona has folded a massive life-sized elephant from a specially produced 2,500 square foot sheet of paper at the Art Museum in Beromünster, Switzerland. Sipho needed the help of up to 10 people to lift and fold the elephant into reality.

Crouching Digital Origami Tigers by LAVA. Commisioned in 2010 by the Customs House in Sydney, Australia these tigers were then adopted by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). These "large" cats are made of recyclable materials and are brought to life with pulsating low energy LED lighting.

Painted Ponies by Kevin Box. These origami horses are currently located at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden as part of the artist’s "Origami In The Garden" exhibition. It’s quite amazing how it can look delicate yet strong at the same time.

Paper Boat by Frank Bolter. This paper boat, suitably named "HMS Origami", has floated down the River Thames in London. It measured 5.4m in length. German conceptual artist Frank Bolter (not him in the picture) used a special sort of paper which would normally be used in the manufacture of drinks cartons.

Origami Dragon by Hawaii Origami Club. Made by the Hawaii Origami Club, this cool red origami dragon represents a particular element of fantasy that could easily be found in various children’s books.

Ascension, The Crane by Crimson Collective. Coachella is one of the biggest music festivals in the US. In 2010, this massive installation called Ascension, The Crane became the center piece at the festival’s entrance. It was illuminated with colored lights, which makes it appear even more powerful and huge.

White Bison by Kevin Box Studio. This white bison which was folded then cast in bronze still looks delicate like paper. This artwork was inspired by an origami paper bison made earlier by artist Robert J. Lang. Its size is 52’ÃÂ³ x 20’ÃÂ³ x 85’ÃÂ³.

Giant Origami Crane by Bananas Projects. Last year, Logan Square welcomed its visitors with a huge 10-foot tall origami crane created out of bed sheets. Sima Cunningham, a 24-year-old musician who lives at the house off Fairfield Avenue and Logan Boulevard, as well as a group of her friends came up with this idea.

Anything Can Break by Pinaree Sanpitak. Debuting in 2012 at the 18th Biennale of Sydney, this large-scale installation is suspended from the ceiling. It is made up of origami cubes and glass clouds and acts as an interactive soundscape.

Rhinoceros Origami by Eric Joisel. Originally trained as a sculptor, Mr. Joisel was a self-taught origami artist. His work resembles that of no other artist in the genre. This giant folded rhinoceros is made from a single sheet of paper with no cuts.

HINWEG / AWAY by Sipho Mabona. This vivid and awesome installation of origami people hanging from balloons was featured as part of the Afrikanischen Literaturtage in September, 2001 at Kornschütte Luzern.